Play Food: Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the last of the play food that I have made to this point. I plan to make more when we are back in Geita and promise to share those projects as they come. Just today, I came across this great blog post that provides lots of good reasons to make your own play food as well as some very inspirational pictures. Scroll down to the bottom to see an educational variation on chocolate chip cookies. 
Despite all the fabulous reasons to make your own play food, I have to admit that on a recent trip to Ikea I bought some to supplement. I love making it, but decided it would be nice to not make EVERY SINGLE piece. We picked up the fruit basket and some adorable utensils. We also bought the sweet set (cookies, ice cream, cake) for some cousins. All of their sets are super cute and inexpensive. Now on with the cookies.


Supplies-
Tan felt
tan embroidery thread
dark brown embroidery thread
needle
scissors
fiber fill stuffing

1- Start by cutting out 2 matching roundish shapes from the felt. My cookies aren’t usually perfect circles so I just did lumpy roundish shapes. If your cookies are perfectly round you could trace a Pringles lid.

2- Make the chocolate chips-

The specks of chocolate that show on top of a cookie aren’t usually round or all the same size, so I made mine all different. To make a chocolate speck, knot your thread and start from the wrong side of your cookie top. Make a straight stitch as long as you want the widest part of the speck to be.

3- Now make another straight stitch right next to it that is just a little shorter than the first stitch. Don't leave any felt showing between stitches.

4- Continue in this manner on both sides of the first stitch until your speck is filled out. If you end up with a gap between any of your stitches just add an extra stitch between to fill it in.

5- Work your way around the cookie top adding chocolate specks of different sizes, until you feel there are enough for your liking. After the last one knot your thread on the back side of the cookie top.

6- Now you are ready to attach the top and bottom pieces. Knot your light brown thread and start from the inside of the cookie so the knot is hidden. Work your way around wrapping your stitch around the raw edge. This is the sort of thing I like to work on while watching TV, or ignoring the laundry, or when the kid is playing contently by himself, but if I try to do anything really productive he’s suddenly up in my grill. Does anyone else have this problem? I digress.

As you work your way around, your two pieces may not match up perfectly anymore. If you have this problem just trim them to match as you go.

7- When you are maybe and inch and a half away from your starting point it’s time to put in the fiber fill. You just need enough to give your cookie some height. Play with it till you like the amount. Keep in mind that over time, with lots of play, they may start to flatten. In other words, I’d err on the side of over stuffing a little. You want to get the filling spread out like you want it before you finish the stitching and can’t get your fingers in there. If it’s all bunched on one side it will be hard to even it out after you’ve closed the cookie, because the filling just sticks to the felt.

8- To finish it off, knot your thread on the underside of the cookie.

9- Now pull the thread under one or two of the stitches on that side before cutting it off.

And you’re finished! Except one cookie is never enough, so you better make a few more! Plus, having several you can use them to work on counting or sharing: One cookie for kiddo, two cookies for Daddy, three cookies for Mommy!